Hubble to go on…

The Hubble Space Telescope is entering its third decade in orbit. Although there are no plans for any more refurbishments to the venerable observatory, its scientific operations on the ground have been given a three year boost, up to 2013. This covers collection and maintenance of data as well as public outreach and research.

Meanwhile NASA has been celebrating the twentieth anniversary of Hubble’s insertion into orbit by publishing twenty great discoveries of the telescope through its twitter feed.

In a similar vein, Universe Today celebrates forty years since Apollo 13 with 13 things that saved Apollo 13, today’s is The Command Module Wasn’t Severed, speaking about the vital things that weren’t damaged by the explosion by pure luck, such as the heat shield of the module and the connection between the command module and the service module.

More bits of NASA history can be read up on using their Ebook service, which includes stuff about the X-planes and NASA aeronautic’s response to the fuel crisis of the seventies.